A variety of arrow rests exist for supporting an arrow on an archery bow. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,372,282, 4,421,092, 4,759,337 and 4,351,311. Typically an arrow rest performs several functions, including: supporting an arrow prior to and during the drawing of the bow and guiding the arrow towards the intended target after the bowstring has been released. Additionally, an arrow rest should be able to compensate for any degree of arrow distortion occurring during the release of an arrow. The arrow rest should offer minimal resistance to enable the maximum energy to be transferred from the bow to the arrow.
Arrow distortion is the degree that the arrow bends or flexes from its true shape or rest position when absorbing energy. Distortion is applied at the instant of bow string release and is generally constant provided the applied energy is constant. Distortion may be vertical, lateral or a combination thereof.
Distortion may occur in two separate ways: inherent distortion, which results from inconsistencies in bow and arrow manufacture or method or bowstring release; and applied distortion, which results from intentionally mounting the arrow rest adjacent to rather than directly on the bow's optimum line of force or by mounting the bow string knock point above or below the optimum line of force. Previously, applied distortion was used to provide clearance of the arrow past the arrow rest. However, distortion of any type is undesirable as it results in a loss of energy transferred to the arrow upon release of the bow string.
The present invention, as disclosed herein, shows a device capable of utilizing an archery bow's direct line of force thereby resulting in an efficient transfer of energy to the arrow without a loss due to applied distortion as previously required in order for the arrow to clear the arrow rest. The invention also discloses the means to correct any inherent distortion resulting from equipment manufacture or abilities of the archer.